PAC to prioritise 'massive profiteering' in accommodation for asylum seekers

Sinn Fein's John Brady said further investigation of the cost of the new children’s hospital, which has climbed to €2.24bn, would be on the agenda for PAC members. File Picture: PA

Highlighting "profiteering" in the provision of accommodation for asylum seekers will be a key focus of the newly re-established Dáil Public Accounts Committee (PAC), chairman John Brady has said.

In its first meeting since the general election, Mr Brady said examining how contracts are awarded to accommodation providers would be a “critical role” of PAC in the years ahead.

“One of the most pressing issues I intend to prioritise is the massive profiteering in the provision of accommodation for those seeking asylum in this State.

“People have become millionaires providing sometimes poor quality accommodation in a deeply flawed system while communities have lost vital local facilities, including hotels

“The State has paid out billions of euro with, what I believe, very little transparency.”

He highlighted the rising costs of the international protection accommodation services, which exceeded €1bn in 2024, describing it as an “industry”.

Mr Brady questioned whether or not contracts awarded for accommodation services provided value for money for the taxpayer.

The Sinn Féin TD also said further investigation of the cost of the new children’s hospital, which has climbed to €2.24bn, would be on the agenda for PAC members.

He highlighted the difficulty in getting some witnesses to come before the committee previously, saying there was a “deep frustration and disappointment” that the National Paediatric Hospital Development Board was unable to appear in the last Dáil.

“I would like to move quickly to invite those bodies into the PAC, to get some of the many very important questions answered,” Mr Brady said.

Mr Brady said PAC would also be examining the failed Arts Council IT system — which cost the State €6.7m — as well as the issue of bogus self-employment. He described it as systemic in RTÉ, the gig economy and for postmasters.

I believe that PAC has a duty to expose how and why these practices continue and to assess the real cost to the public purse

Mr Brady said he hoped the first public meetings of PAC would take place on May 22, with the first items on the agenda likely to be either the Arts Council or the new children’s hospital.

Consultants spending

Fianna Fáil TD Albert Dolan was critical of what he described as the “outsourcing” of decision making, particularly hitting out at the spend on consultants.

He said he did not believe that public money was much better spent in 2025 than it was when he was first elected as a councillor in 2019.

“I understand that inflation takes its toll, but we have spent more on consultants and outsourcing decision making in the last five years than getting actual projects done,” Mr Dolan said.

“Our role is more important now than it has ever been. We are in a time of huge global uncertainty and, while our public finances remain strong, it is incredibly concerning what could lay before us. Our role to ensure value for money is vital.”

Fine Gael’s Grace Boland said the work of PAC would be to try drive “better efficiencies wand value for money with the public service”.

Ms Boland described how people aren’t frustrated with the amount of money they pay in tax, but rather at the “waste they see in the public service”.